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Politics : View from the Center and Left

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To: X Y Zebra who wrote (1841)7/19/2005 2:15:50 PM
From: Dale Baker  Read Replies (3) of 540722
 
I never suggested appeasement - that's a straw man you put up to knock down my argument without addressing it.

Fact is, we have killed or captured 4000 Al Qadea-related bad guys since 2001 without stopping the bombers. Maybe it slowed them down, maybe not, they are still getting through. Having to think twice might cause a terrorist to adjust tactics at most. They don't respond to conventional western deterrence, as much as we would like them to.

Sorry to disappoint you, but we aren't going to go on a crazed campaign of bombing every single suspected terrorist harbor or camp on the planet. You seem to enjoy the prospect, but we would have blown up a lot more than we have to date if that were really our policy. Won't happen.

The "big stick" is a western fantasy. Terrorists use misdirection and asymmetrical response to neutralize the supposed advantage of the big stick. That's their advantage. Go ahead and bomb all you like. The only result will be a new generation of terrorists among the survivors and their relatives.

If you approach was feasible and effective, it would have been tried by now. It isn't and it wasn't. Makes a great fiery speech, however.
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